One week after losing much of his campaign staff over questions about his discipline and work ethic, Gingrich returned to his comfort zone Thursday at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans.FULL POST

(CNN) - As the Republican presidential field begins to take shape, our partners at TIME want you to predict which candidates will make the cut.

TIME has placed a tournament bracket on the cover of its latest issue to go along with Joe Klein's latest piece in which he predicts an NCAA basketball tournament-style nominating process this primary season.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that he and congressional negotiators have done a “first serious scrub” of the entire federal budget but differences remain over big-ticket items that philosophically divide the two parties in their quest for an agreement that would raise the nation’s debt ceiling while putting in place long-term reductions to the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt.

Those big-ticket items include whether to increase tax revenues – which many Democrats want – and making changes to expensive entitlements like Medicare – which many Republicans support.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - The news of Weiner’s resignation was met with reaction that ranged from relief to sadness on Capitol Hill on Thursday.

CNN caught up with up with several Democratic lawmakers during votes off the House floor just before Weiner made his resignation official in New York. These Democrats, who noted that they are close to Weiner, were quick to point out that while he will no longer be a member of Congress, they believe Weiner still has a promising future ahead, possibly including another political office.

Read reaction from several of Rep. Weiner's colleagues after the jump:FULL POST

(CNN) - Anthony Weiner may be giving up his seat in Congress, but he will still retain a substantial war chest of campaign contributions, which experts say he is not required to return.

His latest Federal Election Commission filing, for the end of March, showed $365,670 cash on hand in his Congressional account. In addition, his New York City filing, as a candidate for mayor in 2013, showed he was leading the field with just over $4,515,756 cash on hand as of the end of last year.FULL POST

NEW YORK (CNN) - Veteran Rep. Charles Rangel has sold his villa in the Dominican Republic that was the focus of a House ethics investigation.

The home in Punta Cana, which Rangel purchased in 1987 but failed to pay taxes on for 17 years, was sold for somewhere between $250,000 and $500,000, according to his personal financial disclosure report, which was released Wednesday.

Washington (CNN) - Just days before Jon Huntsman is set to become the latest candidate to enter the Republican presidential field, the former U.S. ambassador to China is canceling a Friday speech before the influential Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans due to a bad cold.

Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller confirmed that due to illness the future candidate could not make a Thursday plane to deliver the speech in New Orleans before the major gathering of conservative activists.FULL POST

(CNN) – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has more in common with the average voter than it may seem, or so he said during a campaign stop in Tampa, Florida Thursday.

After listening to a group of unemployed Floridians discuss the challenges they face in the job market, the presidential hopeful -and multi-millionaire– cheekily divulged, "I am also unemployed."FULL POST